Netherlands Gaming Authority to Announce New Totalizator Betting License Holder before July 1

Late last year, the Netherlands Gaming Authority announced the launch of a digital tender for an exclusive five-year horse racing and harness racing totalizator betting license.

“The Gaming Authority will judge bids primarily on the reliability of operator and the presence of demonstrable experience with land-based horse racing. Potential licensees can not have been illegally active on the Dutch market,” Netherlands Gaming Authority CEO Marja Appelman said at the time.

Today, the Gaming Authority announced that the selection phase of the tender has concluded and that the regulator expects to announce the new license holder before July 1.

Holland Casino and Labor Unions Resume Negotiations

Following weeks of industrial action, labor unions and Holland Casino have resumed their efforts to conclude a new collective bargaining agreement.

Unions have been demanding a 2.5% raise ahead of the expected privatization of the state-owned land-based casino chain.

Belgium Seeks Tighter Restrictions on TV Gambling Advertising

Belgium is joining the growing list of countries seeking to impose tighter restrictions on gambling advertising.

If the current proposals are accepted, operators may no longer advertise during sporting events or before the 8:00 PM watershed. Advertisements will also have to be accompanied by mandatory warnings.

The Belgian Gaming Commission has announced its support for the new measures.

During the first day of the 2017 Gaming in Holland Conference & Expo, several speakers and panelists discussed the legislative progress of the Dutch remote gaming bill, the secondary legislation that is currently being drawn up at the Ministry of Security and Justice to accompany the bill once it comes into force, as well as the new online enforcement policy of the Netherlands Gaming Authority.

A recap of these discussions, including the contributions by Ministry of Security and Justice officials Dennis van Breemen and Frans Maas, Netherlands Gaming Authority CEO Marja Appelman, and several industry representatives is available here.

You could also check out the third-party coverage of our conference here (€) and here.

In order to provide even more detail, we will also offer our readers an unabridged video recording of these sessions, which will be available sometime next week.

Stay tuned!

Other News

Partypoker signs the Netherlands all-time live tournament money earner, Marcel Luske, as their new brand ambassador.

In the wake of last week’s introduction of a stricter online enforcement policy by the Netherlands Gaming Authority, LeoVegas has joined other international operators in refusing to accept traffic from promotional .nl domains.

Class action claim foundation Loterijverlies has appointed two new board members following the suspension of its founder Ferdy Roet.

VAN, the Dutch trade association of land-based gaming hall operators, is in the process of forming a third section specifically dedicated to online gaming.

The European Union’s top court has rejected efforts to exempt Gibraltar-licensed online gambling operators from paying the UK’s online point of consumption tax.

Portugal’s heavily taxed online gambling market is reported to have made an unexpectedly strong start, despite having attracted just four licensed operators. What will happen in the Netherlands when the Dutch online market opens?

The latest quarterly GGR figures for the Danish betting market, online casinos, gaming machines, and land-based casinos indicate that the Danish gambling market is relatively stable, though GGR is down on both the last quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2016.

Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat revealed that two major gambling operators have applied for licenses from the Malta Gaming Authority. Earlier, Sky Betting & Gaming also applied for a MGA license. Malta’s regulated landscape may thus soon be joined by three big industry names. Malta’s already existing gaming sector continued to grow during Q1.

Multinational gaming industry body, the European Gaming and Amusement Federation (EUROMAT) has confirmed the appointment of Jason Frost as its new president for a fixed term of two years.

Kindred Group plc has commissioned two of the world’s leading researchers in the area of responsible gambling to carry out research on gambling practices using anonymized customer data from Kindred Group.